Listening to Country Series following on from Raising our Tribal Voice Conference

There is much wisdom, knowledge, and direction for living to be discovered in listening to country. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in these lands now called Australia know this and seek to live deeply connected to country and to share that knowing with others.

This 3-part series explores, breaks open some of that wisdom and knowing. It offers an invitation to walk with and learn from Aboriginal presenters who will share a variety of perspectives that come from their lived experience, their research and their integration of Christian theology with indigenous spirituality. As Garry Worete Deverell describes in his book Contemplating Country, ‘Such a transformation is necessary if Christianity is ever to leave behind its Eurocentric habits and truly arrive in the sovereign and unceded country of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nations.’

Rev Dr Josephine Inkpin, minister at Pitt St Uniting Church, and Kate Scholl, Eremos Council member, attended ‘Raising our Tribal Voice for Justice: An Indigenous Theological Revolution’ conference in February in Melbourne. Following this ground-breaking conference, they began conversations with the School of Indigenous Studies at the University of Divinity to offer a series on Indigenous Theology and Spirituality.

Eremos and Pitt St Uniting Church are partnering with St James Institute in Sydney, and the Wellspring Community in collaboration with the School of Indigenous Studies at the University of Divinity to offer this series. We all have the opportunity to have our lives enriched and believe that this encounter is vital for our future as a country.

We invite national participation and all sessions will be live online. Each event will also be in person at Pitt St Uniting Church in Sydney.

Session 1

Rev Dr Garry Worete Deverell presenting, Christ as country: Aboriginal spirituality and Christianity in conversation
Sunday 21 April from 2 – 4 pm at Pitt St Uniting Church, Sydney and Live streamed

Rev Dr Garry Deverell is Academic Dean, Lecturer, and Research Fellow in the new School of Indigenous Studies at the University of Divinity, which he helped to found.

A trawloolway man from northern lutruwita (Tasmania), Dr Deverell is the author of Contemplating Country (2023), Gondwana Theology (2018) and The Bonds of Freedom (2008). He holds undergraduate degrees from the University of Tasmania and the Melbourne College of Divinity and a doctorate in theology from Monash University.

View the event flyer

Cost

$15 or $10 if booked by 18th April 2024

Free for Eremos members, Pitt St UCA members, Wellspring members, St James Institute subscribers and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Afternoon tea will be part of the event.

More in this series

Held at Pitt St Uniting Church and live streamed:

Session 2 – Professor Dr Anne Pattel-Gray: Aboriginal Spirituality and Connection to Country
Sunday 11 August 2024, 2 – 4 pm

Session 3 – Nathan Tyson: Acknowledging Country: Way forward to reconciliation
Sunday 8 September 2024, 2 – 4 pm